Song Of Solomon Milkman Character Analysis

In Song of Solomon, Toni Morrison addresses the question that has been asked for decades and still lacks an answer; Can a person change? Toni also discusses other themes such as materialism, racism, and how being light skin makes a difference in the black community. These themes are depicted in the book’s main character, Milkman. Milkman goes through a drastic change in his personality when he leaves his previous materialistic lifestyle and goes on a journey to discover his family’s history. Even though the major changes in Milkman’s character happen in Chapter 11, the minor events that lead up to his shift from materialism and being self-centered to a more genuine, caring, and non greedy person take place in Chapter 10, showing that his growth

is more gradual and genuine than it might seem.
The first sign of a coming change in chapter 10 is when Milkman helps a man lift a crate when he is in the bus station. Milkman has been spoiled his entire life by his rich father Macon Dead.

He never helps anyone with anything including his family. The author demonstrates Milkman’s selfishness and spoiled personality in multiple ways including, when Milkman gets confronted by his sister for his selfish actions; “ And to this day, you have never asked one of us if we were tired, or sad, or wanted a cup of coffee. You’ve never picked up anything heavier than your own feet, or solved a problem harder than fourth-grade arithmetic. Where do you get the right to decide our lives?” (215). Milkman always expects to get services from people without giving in anything return. He assumes that that's the way things work. At first Milkman acts careless when his sister confronts him and thinks that it is only a temporary outrage but then he realizes what his sister is trying to say to him. Her harsh remarks and statements struck him with reality that contributes to his personality change. This change can be seen towards the end of Chapter 10 when Milkman helps a stranger with a crate in Danville bus station; “Say,” said the man. “If you ain’t gonna try to catch him, could you give me a hand with this?” He pointed down to the huge crate at his feet. Too tired to say no or explain,Milkman nodded”(256). For the first time in his life Milkman “nodded” with approval to

something that does not benefit him only. Unlike other situations, Milkman does not have an obligation to help this man, however, he chooses to do so anyways. In past situations when Milkman actually has obligation to help or carry out a specific action, he often runs away from responsibility or totally ignores the situation. This is signal of a drastic change in his personality. In addition, the journey that Milkman goes on really benefits him because he is finally able to burst out of the materialistic bubble that he has been living in, to discover the simplicity of other people's lives where people care and help each other, he also discovers what the word community really means. The people he is surrounded by lack the love that he needs which is the reason why he turns into the cold person he is. He had to grow up in a family where the dad hates his sister and his wife, his existence is a considered a mistake in his father's eyes, and the closest friend he has carries so much hate towards white people. Guitar, Milkman´s closest friend does not believe that Milkman can change from being cold hearted, self centered to a giving and helpful person, therefore, when he hears Milkman’s response of why he helps the man with the crate, he chooses not to believe him; “Milkman knew it sounded lame. It was the truth, but it sounded like a lie. A weak lie too. He also knew that in all his life, Guitar had never seen Milkman give anybody a hand, especially a stranger” (296). Additionally, Milkman’s past is there to haunt him. When Milkman explains why he is carrying the crate, the closest people to him; Guitar, does not believe that Milkman is helping a stranger for nothing. Guitar is not the only one who thinks that such an action coming from Milkman is unbelievable, Milkman himself could not believe what he says. This is another realization that Milkman stumbles into.
Another key event that leads to a change in Milkmans personality is his starvation on his journey.

Milkman is put in a situation he has never been in before, he faces starvation while he goes looking for gold in the cave; “Milkman began to shake with hunger. Real hunger, not the less than top-full feeling he was accustomed to, the nervous desire to taste something good. Real hunger” (253). Being lost after looking for gold is karma’s way of teaching Milkman a lesson. It teaches him to not be the greedy and materialistic person that he has come to be and instead, teaches him to be thankful for what he is and not ask for more. For Milkman hunger is a feeling that he never experiences before going to look for the cave. The fact that he is forced to eat inedible things and foods he never eaten, forces him to develop a sense of sympathy that his personality lacked. “He thought of the breakfast food Mrs. Cooper had put before him, which had disgusted him then. Fried eggs covered with grease, fresh-squeezed orange juice with seed and pulp floating in it, thick hand-cut bacon, a white-hot mound of grits and biscuits” (253). Milkman is accustomed to the luxurious lifestyle, before starving he sees that what Mrs. Cooper serves for breakfast is disgusting and considers it as “poor people’s” food, however, he would die to get what he called “disgusting”. He is finally exposed to life other than his lavish one, he regrets not grabbing what he always took for granted, this makes him

realize that he should not take anything for granted because he can lose everything in a matter of minutes, Even though his hunger is temporary, that is enough to change his mindset. He now lives like the people he always made fun of even if it was for a short period of time.
The third sign of a change in Milkman’s personality is being thankful to people and putting effort into giving them a good first impression. Unlike his usual attitude , Milkman starts to care about what he looks like in other people's eyes. This is seen in chapter 10 when MIlkman meets Reverend Cooper; “Milkman felt as awkward as he sounded. He had never had to try to make a pleasant impression on a stranger before, and did not remember ever asking anybody in the world how they were” (229). Milkman has never cared about the opinion of others towards him, he only cares about his opinions. Not only does Milkman not care about others opinions, he also does not care about how people around are doing or feeling. He has always been careless and naive to what people around him feel, this is especially seen with his sisters and his mother. He only communicates with his sisters and mother for bare necessities and never treats them like a family, nor does he ask about their feelings or opinions. However, Milkman is being forced to change his attitude on the journey because he knows that without a good impression, no one will communicate with him, unlike how it is in his hometown where he takes everyone for granted and therefore does not care how they feel. Another rare and unusual situation is when Milkman thanks Reverend Cooper for his hospitality; “Oh, no. No, thank you, sir. Maybe a little something to drink. I mean if you do drink, that is”(230). As seen in previous chapters, Milkman has always been too arrogant to be thankful to anyone. Previously, he thought that thanking people is “hurting of one’s pride” however, this time he actually steps on his ego and thanks Cooper. This is the most significant sign of a change. Milkman leaves his comfort zone, to show his appreciation for people. This is the first of many appreciating moments to come.

The last sign that shows a transition in his personality is his consideration for his family. As mentioned above, Milkman does not care about his family. Whenever his dad, Macon dead tells him a story about his deceased grandfather, Milkman does not seem to care, however in his journey, he gets exposed to new information and therefore develops new feelings towards his family;“ Maybe it was the whiskey, which always made other people gracious when he drank it, but Milkman felt a glow listening to a story come from this man that he’d heard many times before but only half listened to” (231). For the first in his life, Milkman is actually proud of his father and grandfather’s achievements.He is also able to feel a feeling of glow that he only experiences when drinking alcohol. He never knew that these feelings can simply be experienced without making effort or need of alcohol consumption. For the first time Milkman also listens closely to his grandfather’s story when told by the locals and discovers new feelings within himself; “And nobody did anything?” Milkman wondered at his own anger. He hadn’t felt angry when he first heard about it. Why now?” (232). He has mixed feelings towards the death of his grandfather but the main feeling is anger. He feels angry for not being there for his grandfather, and for not being able to defend him, he develops the feeling to take revenge for his grandfather. Revenge is not the only thing that goes on his brain, Milkman also goes through an inner conflict within himself and starts to question why he only develops these feelings now and not when his father told him about it. Milkman is also curious on what kind of person his grandfather is and starts to miss him. This proves that his feelings towards his family have changed and this contributes to his overall personality change.
The effect of the minor changes in chapter 10 are what lead to the drastic transition in chapter 11 causing Milkman’s personality to go from being careless, and arrogant, into a sympathetic and authentic person. Toni Morrison is able to answer the question of whether a person can change or not. He proves that it is possible in Chapter 10 that a person can change if they really want to, we also come to an conclusion that; little things make the big change